Hall of Fame Tiger broadcaster Ernie Harwell / FREE PRESS STAFF PHOTO

FREE PRESS STAFF

“The voices of the game of baseball are often the audible history of the game. A call, a moment, a memory. All tied up in the tones that became familiar to generations of fans accustomed to following their teams on the radio and TV.

“And, without hyperbole or hype, there have been few of those voices more integral, more loved and respected than the great Ernie Harwell…. Many words will be spilled and emotions near the surface for legions of baseball fans in the coming days as the great broadcaster is eulogized in Tiger Nation and beyond. But in the end, the sad truth is that baseball is yet another treasure lost from the glory days.”

“If America had a voice, it would sound like Ernie Harwell. He was resonant and reassuring without being intrusive. Listeners heard confidence and kindliness as a subtext to his descriptions of baseball games. We thought we knew Mr. Harwell but he definitely knew us. Harwell understood that there was an almost sacred connection between fans and their teams and he always gave us reason to believe in happy outcomes….

“Mr. Harwell's voice on the radio meant that the sun was moving northward across the equator and all the rhythms of the world were swinging sweetly to a song of vacation and ninth-inning, walk off homeruns.”

“Mr. Harwell belonged to what is now a nearly extinct generation of announcers who started calling baseball on radio before television’s ascent — broadcasters like Mel Allen, Red Barber, Harry Caray and Jack Buck. They became as familiar as players to fans listening through crystal sets, car speakers or boom boxes….

“He conveyed warmth through a relaxed and humorous style that mixed the precise details of the game, player anecdotes, tales about his wife, Lulu, and idiosyncratic phrases that defined him to millions of listeners.”

“Harwell lived for 92 years. He knew Ty Cobb as well as Justin Verlander. Last year, he was diagnosed with the cancer that now has taken him. He made a final appearance at a Tiger game to thank the fans, a class act to the very end.”